Chicago Blues: The City & the Music

by Mike Rowe, Ronald Radano (Editor)

Chicago has always had a reputation as a ”wide open town” with a high tolerance for gangsters, illegal liquor, and crooked politicians. It has also been the home for countless black musicians and the birthplace of a distinctly urban blues—more sophisticated, cynical, and street-smart than the anguished songs of the Mississippi delta—a music called the Chicago blues. This is the history of that music and the dozens of black artists who congregated on the South and Near West Sides. Muddy Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Tampa Red, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells, Eddie Taylor—all of these giants played throughout the city and created a musical style that had imitators and influence all over the world.

Genres: Music, American History, History

226 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 1981

About the author

Mike Rowe is a blues scholar.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Michael Ferro · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of Chicago Blues, the lore of yesteryear is constantly pulling us back to those smokey, whiskey-stained south side clubs where it all began—back to a time and place where the lonesome, wailing guitar of Muddy Waters and screaming moan of Howlin' Wolf filled the gritty Windy City inner city streets. History is the mainline of blues music, and "Chicago Blues: The City and the Music" is one of the best and most practical Chicago blues history books out there.

Filled with photos, data and graphs, and just about all the nitty gritty details any blues lover drools over, this book is the bottom line in Chicago blues. So dust off your Victrola, grab your old 45s, and head back to where the sounds of city blues took shape alongside all the greats.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, published in 1973, did not anticipate that Chicago would very quickly develop a cottage industry in the blues, but I suspect that even if Rowe knew what was coming, he might not have been impressed. This British blues historian most enjoyed the very specific subset of Chicago blues artists who updated the Mississippi Delta sound between 1948 and 1955, with a nod to the West Side guitar slingers that came along at the end of the 50s.

Which is not to say this isn't an enjoyable book. Yes, the chapter on statistics of African-American migration throughout the first decades of the 20th Century (and the brief epilogue trying to narrow things down by musical style) is encumbered with way too many percentages and unfamiliar abbreviations in charts. And, his musical analysis is fairly limited - he knows when a musician did something original, but most of the time he settles for saying so and so recorded a "fine" performance. (A dangerous drinking game would be to take a shot every time he uses that word.) He also loves to casually dismiss records I think are great - from "It's Tight Like That" by Tampa Red to "My Babe" by Little Walter.

But, as a document of what was going on in Chicago blues in the fifties, this is really useful and worthwhile. Row covers all the obvious classics by Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, and more. He also devotes space to artists I don't know so well - Eddie Taylor, Floyd Jones, John Brim, etc. He includes lots of info about the many record companies, from the giants Chess and Vee Jay to J.O.B. and Cobra and dozens more, and some of the clubs in which the music was made. It's weird for me to encounter his thoughts about the likely death of the blues, though it's obvious that all the great music that's come out since the book was written is built firmly on the achievements of the time before.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic of blues literature, this covers (very thoroughly I might add) the history of Chicago blues from it's beginnings to about 1973, when the book was originally published. Anyone wishing to delve deep into the history of Chicago blues will need to read this book (unfortunately, out of print, I believe). As a companion or complement to the book, I would also highly recommend The Red Saunders Research Foundation website for those wishing to dig even deeper into the record labels and the people behind them in the Windy City. But if you are into this music, you need to read this book, period. A classic of the field.

[Bruce Raterink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed documentation of Chicago Blues from the 1920s through 1973, when the book was published. A very thorough review of every artist, record label, record exec, and blues club in the Chicago area during those five decades. I learned a lot from this book, and especially liked that it contained a listing of recommended recordings. I've had my Chicago blues playlist on repeat while I read this book. Highly recommended